Buckwheat's Failure - Swine Flu Spreads, Swine Flu Shots at Least 3 Weeks Late

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=asYlPo7IOFqw

Swine Flu Shots to Start in Three Weeks as U.S. Cases Spread

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu vaccinations may begin in three
weeks, earlier than previously anticipated, after the first U.S. tests
found a single shot to be effective in eight to 10 days, U.S. health
officials said.

The first shots may be available by the end of this month and
administered to patients the first week of October, said Nancy Cox,
director of the flu division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta. Health officials had previously planned for
vaccinations to begin in mid-October, requiring two shots administered
three weeks apart.

Swine flu outbreaks have rippled across U.S. schools and universities
after pupils returned to classes in the past few weeks. Washington
State University reported more than 2,500 cases, and the CDC last week
reported a nationwide spike of influenza cases months earlier than the
past three flu seasons. The test results are boosting hopes the
vaccine may be available in time to curb the first pandemic in 41
years, Cox said.

?We were anticipating that it would begin mid-October,? Cox told
reporters today at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents
and Chemotherapy in San Francisco. ?This was a conservative estimate
but it was a necessary conservative estimate. We now feel that we will
have vaccine for more people earlier and this is extremely good news.?
New Virus

Health authorities in the U.S. and U.K. anticipated that two shots
would be required because people were being exposed to the new virus
for the first time. Critics said a multidose regime wouldn?t come in
time to slow widespread outbreaks in the U.S. already triggered by the
start of schools. Shots now also may be available in time to bring
relief in the Southern Hemisphere, where swine flu recently peaked.

The U.S. study was the first report from five government- sponsored
trials initiated July 22 to test safety and proper dosing of a
pandemic vaccine. They bolster similar results published by
Melbourne-based CSL Ltd., said Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in Bethesda, Maryland, in
an interview. The CSL study found that more than 95 percent of 240
patients who were given a single shot had protective antibodies three
weeks later.

The successful test results may double anticipated stockpiles of the
vaccine and make more shots available in developing countries, Cox
said today. The U.S. is in ?very active discussions? about donating
some of its supply to countries that need it, she said.

One Dose Effective

The results of the vaccine studies suggest one dose of the formula
used by drugmakers should offer H1N1 protection similar to the
seasonal flu shot. Paris-based Sanofi Aventis SA, London- based
GlaxoSmithKline Plc, and Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG are
among the other companies making the vaccine.

Vaccine supplies in early October will be limited and targeted at
health-care workers and those most vulnerable to severe illness, such
as pregnant women and children, Cox said.

?We?re on track to have an ample supply rolling by the middle of
October,? Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. secretary of health and human
services, said today on ABC?s ?This Week? program. ?We?ll get the
vaccine out the door as fast as it rolls out the production line.?

Most shots in the studies of healthy adults ages 18 to 64 contained 15
micrograms of antigen, the same level as for seasonal flu vaccines.
The vaccinations had similar side effects to regular flu shots, the
most common being headache and pain at the injection site.

CSL said it plans to donate the vaccine to developing nations in Asia
and the South Pacific and is discussing a pilot program with the World
Health Organization to start by providing as many as 100,000 doses.

The vaccines in both studies didn?t use ingredients called adjuvants
included by some countries in formulations to boost effectiveness. No
serious side effects were reported, though the trials are too small to
detect rare conditions. The shots are being studied further and will
be closely monitored once vaccination campaigns begin, according to
U.S. officials.
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